Honorary student mayor talks school safety after Parkland shooting

William Kelly @pbtownreporter

Wednesday

Mar 21, 2018 at 12:01 AMMar 21, 2018 at 4:42 PM

Harrison Fisher was a hit at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting.

Fisher, an eighth-grade student at Palm Beach Day Academy, was chosen by his school to be mayor for a day in Palm Beach. Mayor Gail Coniglio asked the 14-year-old to sit next to her on the dais throughout the meeting.

He also was asked to address the council and audience, remarking on school safety in the aftermath of the Parkland massacre, in which 17 people lost their lives.

"They’ve been teaching us about the shootings in schools and all around the country," Fisher said. "They’ve been teaching us how to handle it and what we’re going to do."

Three former FBI agents are providing security on the Day Academy’s upper and lower campuses. Fisher said. The academy also has been locking classroom doors.

"As you know, my generation plays a big part in what has been happening," he said.

A lifelong Palm Beach resident, Fisher is the son of Jeffrey and Frances Fisher, who were in the audience.

Frances Fisher said the academy is preparing to send a banner bearing the hand prints of its students to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after spring break. Students from both campuses contributed to the banner.

Town Manager Kirk Blouin, a former police officer who directly manages the police and fire departments, said there is a change in attitude in this country since the Stoneman Douglas shooting in Broward County.

"I do personally believe people have the right to bear arms, but I don’t believe military-style assault weapons should be allowed in our society," he said. The parents of the children who have been killed or injured in mass shootings "have spoken. Hopefully, they can make a difference in the laws in our country."

With another deadly school shooting serving as the final straw, Florida lawmakers have made significant changes to state gun laws, despite opposition from the National Rifle Association.

While the final bill signed by Gov. Rick Scott does not include everything activists sought, such as an assault weapons ban, it raises the minimum age for gun purchases from 18 to 21 years of age, and requires gun buyers to wait three days or until a background check is completed, whichever is longer. It bans possession of bump stocks, which are devices that can make semiautomatic weapons fire like fully automatic firearms.

Coniglio thanked Fisher for doing a "great job" as honorary mayor.

"We are grateful to Harrison and all the children who are our future," she said.